I will be less busy in 2014

I have heard a lot of excuses that goes along the lines of, “I really want to do it but I am afraid I am a little busy. May be next time.” And I am sure, I am not alone. Probably you’ve also ran into people who really wanted to take out time for you but couldn’t.

You know what I feel about them? This -> Yuck!

Most of the time, they aren’t as busy as they think they are. They just have some jumbled up priorities. And no, they do not do this purposely. They have been doing it so much lately that it comes naturally to them.

I know how one can feel busy without actually being, because I was one such person once - till a few years ago. I have been practicing straightening up my priorities for last few years and I feel that I had been very good at it in the year that is on the verge of ending.

2013 is about to leave us forever. And on this weekend (the last of 2013), instead of building a feature of Gaurilla, I thought to look back at the year and how much I was able to accomplish of what I had planned last year same time. After a whole evening of thinking, I concluded that 2013 saw a huge reduction in my complains like “I wish I had a few more hours in a day.”

I was the guy who felt 24 hours were very less to do what he wanted to do. I was the guy who felt being totally busy all the time. But today, I can say that I was wrong. I wasn’t busy, just had some badly ordered priorities.

If you’d been a similar person in 2013, who was too busy to do what was planned, then my little experience might help you a bit in 2014.

So, how can you make more time?

Short answer: You cannot.

Slightly longer answer: By stop wasting time on luxuries.

Even longer answer, keep reading.

No one is really busy. It all depends on the priorities. The people who say they don’t have time to start a hobby are usually the ones who rush for their girlfriend’s shopping when they order. The thing is not that they didn’t have time. The thing is that they didn’t keep ‘starting a hobby’ at higher priority.

One simple rule to get your priorities straight is to stop wasting time of luxuries. No one is busy, stop watching that daily soap. No one is busy, stop taking 2-hours-nap in the noon everyday. No one is busy, just stop stop stop stop wasting your time on luxuries.

If you’d have spent an hour in writing the book you ‘really’ wanted to write instead of taking the power-nap whose power resulted in nothing productive; everyday for an year, you’d have a book authored by you.

Or if you’d have spent some part of your television-time in learning to code that you’ve been planning for long, then you’d be building your own software. Who knows may be, you could have a startup even.

Like energy, time also follows the law of conservation. Time cannot be created or destroyed but can be transferred from one activity to another.

Taking 7-hour sleep is rest, 12-hour sleep is luxury. Watching TV for sometime is entertainment, watching it for 4 hours is luxury. Going to mall once or twice a month is 'going out', going everyday is a luxury.

Once we stop wasting time on luxuries, we can do things that will make us a better person and nothing comes close to being a better person.

Don’t worry if you couldn’t do it in 2013. We’re never late to begin doing something. Let’s get our priorities in order in the year to come. Just remember, no one’s busy. It all depends on priorities. (And doing something productive should be on higher priority than your girlfriend’s shopping.) Promise? :)